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the new leaf Current mood: optimistic An excellent 2 days in London is wrapping up as I head back to Oxford on the bus, where YES, a person can access the world wide interweb - is there no end to the technological bombardment? The answer, my friends, is NO, there isn`t, and as my buddy Steve Lawson was helping me to discover yesterday, not only can you not escape it, but it`s a lot more fun if you jump right in. Forming superficial relationships left right and center has never been at the core of my being, and while I`ve never felt unhappy with the results of this approach to people, I`ve never had a whole lot of social activity going on, WHICH, as it turns out, is exactly what a poor but hopeful musician needs. (Am I the wrong person for this job?) I don`t have a moral problem with being only vaguely familiar with an endless array of people or anything, but when you`re a person who finds joy in quality control and is known by those closest as the `go deep or go home-er`, well, you can see why trying to make friends with 100s of cyber-folk isn`t exactly intuitive (no offense - I`m sure you`re all mostly more or less pretty awesome and worth vaguely knowing). But hallelujah, I`ve always been up for learning things and as I`m not yet riding the waves of a torrent of public musical success, I figured I`d get help where help was offered. Thank you Steve. My first assignment is to meet more musicians on myspace and see if I can`t find myself a little musical community. I`m looking forward to this, because already in my search for buddies I`ve heard some great stuff from people I don`t know at all, but which otherwise I wouldn`t have heard. Hooray! Already feeling more musically inspired, and ALSO happier that so many people are making beautiful music, where I confess I am usually intimidated. Well that`s it for me for this evening, but stay tuned cause I`ve got blogging homework. Miriam Jones

Though they didn`t go on to the finals,`Always Been Between` and `I Am One` were selected as semi-finalists in the International Songwriting Competition this year in the performance category. Big pat on the back for them, they worked hard. Better luck next year for the gold.

English Gig the First. The Perseverance in Marylebone, LONDON, UK. 7:30. £3. Miriam Jones and pianist Jez Carr. Also featuring Dean Austin, Mike Halliwell, and Tobacco Brown. www.freedomexpression.co.uk myspace.com/freeexpress 11 Shroton Street Marylebone NW1 6UG

A whirlwind of weddage and winding up in the UK, new future before me, has kept me silent for several months where music is concerned, but here I am, beginning my new beginning, hoping to find Oxford an inviting and inspiring place in which to come alive again. Nobody knows me here, yet, so I guess long live open mics for a while. Back to basics. There`s been a bit of movement on the indie film front - `Squander` seems a popular one for hiding out behind the scenes, so to speak; it`s been recruited for a couple of different films. I`ll let you know if anything amazing happens there. Well, as I said, this is just a beginning so I`ve not much to report - just that I`m back in the game, mentally anyway, I think, so do look for upcoming movements. Miriam

Hello Everyone, July 10th I`ll be departing Vancouver to begin my sojourn toward my nuptials on August the 14th, which will afterwards bring me eastward to the land of Kingdoms United for perhaps a long time (though I do of course intend to make returns to the homeland - tour?). The gig is at the Wired Monk (2610 West 4th Ave) on Friday, June 29th at around 8, cover $5, and I will be joined by Jez Carr on keys, with special guests, singer songwriters Paul Enns and Jeremy Raymond. Would be delighted to see you there, and it would be nice to be able to say goodbye. Miriam

On Thursday, April 19th, I will have the sweetest pleasure of playing at the Stage Door in Cranbrook, BC, to the finest of Kootenay dwellers - long time friends and familiar faces I anticipate with delight. The concert will begin at 8 pm, with doors opening at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available through Lotus Books and Swing Street, in town, and are $10, unless bought at the door in which case they are $15. I will be accompanied by British musician Jez Carr on piano, and Cranbrook`s own Steve Jones from `As the Crow Flies` on bass. Looking forward to this one. Miriam